Sangay volcano explosions, tremors alarm nearby residents; Vaccination plan details; Province has 103 FM stations; Alianza Francesa resumes film series

Martes, 1/6/2021

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –

De la pagina cultural –

La Alianza Francesa alista proyecciones de películas (The French Alliance prepares film screenings) – The film cycle at the Alianza Francesa started today (martes) with La nult venue by Frederic Farucci. On 5/6 the film “Las Vidas de Marona,” an animated film for children by Anca Damian, will be shown at 11:00. On 8/6 a las 19:00, “Barbara” by Mathieu Amalric will be shown, followed by “Eden” by Mia Hansen-Love el 15/6, “Frech Waves” by Julian Starke el 22/6, and “Africa Mía” by Richard Minier el 29/6. All will be shown a las 19:00 and the last two are documentaries related to music. There will be limited capacity for each showing and masks and social distancing will be required.

Otras cosas –

Titular – Un día dedicado a los niños (A day dedicated to children) – During the pandemic, various talents in children have been discovered and enhanced, including arts. Of those, painting was one of the most cultivated in the last year. Works done by children were featured in the article along with interviews of the artists and their parents.

The new mass vaccination program began yesterday in Cuenca. (El Mercurio)

Cuenca tiene dos nuevas radios FM; Azuay suma 109 (Cuenca has two new FM stations; total of 109 in Azuay) – Two new radio stations are on the air in Cuenca and Azuay. La Chismosa, on FM 104.1 is offering varied tropical music, and broadcasts to Cuenca, Gualaceo, Paute, Chordeleg y Sígsig in Azuay and to Azogues, Biblián, y Déleg in Cañar. It also serves Girón ,San Fernando y Santa Isabel on 102.9. Station FM 106.5 still doesn’t have a name and its programming includes retro music on weekends. Both have streaming via their web pages with video from FM104.1.

With these two stations, there are now 109 broadcasting from Azuay. Of these, 88 are private commercial stations, 13 public stations, and 8 public community stations. Azuay has the most stations in the country followed by 106 in Loja, 100 in Manabi, 88 in Chimborazo, 76 in Guayas, and 67 in Pichincha. With respect to AM stations, Azuay is in 3d place. <Does anyone still listen to radio?>

Bramidos del Sangay ponen en alerta a los ciudadanos (Roars from the Sangay put citizens on alert) – Residents of the Morona, Huamboya y Pablo Sexto cantons expressed fear from the estruendos (din, noise, racket – our word for the day) emitted by the volcano. People in Macas were alarmed when their windows started vibrating and ECU 911 cameras showed incandescent pyroclastic flow emissions. The Servicio Nacional de Gestión de Riesgos y Emergencias (SNGRE) reported an increase in tremors starting el pasado domingo a las 17:41, and explained that is is a type of seismic activity that usually corresponds with movement of the magma near the surface.

SNGFE also confirmed ash falling in Alausí canton in Chimborazo. Satellite images showed an ash cloud that could fall in Cañar, Bolívar, Los Ríos y Guayas. As of 9:00 ayer, there was a decrease in the tremors. The Instituto Geofísico is monitoring the volcano for changes so it can warn citizens to take precautions if needed. According to the Institute, Sangay started erupting in mayo, 2019 with continuous emisions of gas and ash. It increased after agosto 2020 to its current level.

El plan de vacunación de Lasso requiere espaldarazo mundial (Lasso’s vaccination plan requires global accolade/back up) – Ayer, the Gobierno presented the Plan de Vacunación 9/100 to immunize 9 million Ecuadorians by 30/8/2021. The plan will have a weekly vaccination plan which will be updated each miércoles. People can consult to see if they have been scheduled for a vaccine the following week.

The plan will have 3 phases. Phase I, Salvamos Vidas, will run until 15/6 with the goal of reducing mortality. It will vaccinate everyone over 65, people over 50 with grave disabilities and chronic diseases, health workers, and people working in conditions with high risk for infection.

Phase 2, Nos Cuidamos, will run from 15/6 to 15/7 with the goal of mitigating social impact. Vaccinations will be for people between 50 and 64 years, anyone between 16 & 49 with grave disabilities and chronic illnesses, and personnel in strategic sectors.

Phase 3, Menor Contagio will start el 15/7 and end el 30/8 with the goal of reducing community transmission. In this phase people between 16 and 49 years old and migrants will be vaccinated. From 1/9 to 5/9, people who missed the previous phases can get vaccinated.

Ximena Garzón, Minister of Health, said the objective was to get at least 72% of the population vaccinated by 20/8 in order to reach herd immunity. Enrique Pita, President of the CNE said the vaccination process would include the 13,216,000 Ecuadorians over 16 who are part of the electoral rolls. If you are over 16 or older and not registered to vote <Which I think applies to a lot of the readers of CHL>, the CNE has an application for smart phones that includes a button to register in the Plan de Vacunación. This same option is available for people who want to modify their voting address so they can get vaccinated at a location more convenient than where they vote. You can get more information at the heatlh ministry hotline by dialing 171 or at https://www.salud.gob.ec/cronograma-semanal-y-preguntas-ciudadanas-plan-de-vacunacion-covid-19. <It feels like Lasso was planning on what he was going to do if he won the election while he was running. This vaccination plan got rolled out in his first 8 days. Got to give the guy credit.>

426.037 contagios positivos desde inicio de la pandemia (426,037 positive infections since the beginning of the pandemic) – The Ministerio de Salud reported that there were 196 new cases of COVID-19 ayer, with a total number of 426,037 cases since the start of the pandemic. The number of deaths in that period is 20,572 including confirmed and probable deaths due to Covid. 375,151 patients recovered, and 44,893 were discharged from hospitals. Pichincha was the province most affected with 151,432 cases, 119 new cases in the last 24 hours. Guayas follows with 57,335 total cases and 13 new cases. Other provinces include Manabí with 30,770; Azuay with 12,088; El Oro with 20,533; Loja with 16,152; Imbabura with 13,776; Tungurahua with 13,345; Los Ríos with 12,220; Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas with 11,187; Cotopaxi with 11,086; and Esmeraldas with 8,311. <Aren’t you glad to be living in a country where those numbers are not the daily deaths? If they were, Ecuador would run out of people pretty quickly.>

Public service announcement – recall – Chevrolet has issued a recall for Chevy trucks, Series N, for the years 2015 to 2021. In some of the Series NPR/NQR, the rear axle U-bolt nuts have not received the correct torque recommended in the production line or assembly process. The adjustment can be made in 2 hours at no cost to the owner. You can contact the Centro de Atención al Cliente Chevrolet (Call center) at 1800243876 or atencion.chevrolet@gm.com.

And that’s all for today so Hasta ? –

Jeanne